Star Trek: Allegiance in Exile
{4.5/5} “As Kirk padded down from the outer ring of the bridge to its inner section, he shifted from reflecting on the reliability and longevity of his command crew to the interpersonal relationships that had grown among them. He felt closer to the members of his senior staff than he had to any other group of people he’d ever known; in important ways, they had become like a family to him. It gave him pause to wonder where they would all be a year and a day from that moment.”
Kirk, Spock, and crew visit an M-class planet that has one abandoned city on it. When they go down to check it out, it looks like the city was destroyed a long time ago. But where are the people who lived there, and who destroyed the city?
Allegiance in Exile by David R. George III was just published. It’s a Star Trek: The Original Series novel.
The story focuses on Kirk, Sulu, and a new character — Mai Trinh, the new archeology and anthropology officer. Spock and McCoy also have significant roles. Trinh saves Sulu’s life on an away mission and after that they get to know each other better.
Kirk meets someone* who later becomes an important person in his life. He also makes first contact with a civilization** that later becomes important to the Federation.
Kirk is ruminating on the fact that there’s only one year left in the five-year mission — he hopes to still be commanding a starship in a year’s time but he doesn’t know if he will be. He has come to regret a few of the decisions he’s made as captain of the Enterprise.
The story fits in with what we know, and includes some conflict between main characters — this develops in a way that makes perfect sense. If you’re a fan of the original series, you’ll enjoy this book.
George is the author of the three best original series books from the last few years (that I’ve read): the Crucible trilogy, consisting of Provenance of Shadows, The Fire and the Rose, and The Star to Every Wandering. He’s also written Rough Beasts of Empire and several other Star Trek books.
Spoiler alert
*Lori Ciana, who is featured in the book The Lost Years and dies in a transporter accident in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
**The Bajorans.